In Love and War
by AbstractRainbow
Summary: AU, Post-Chosen, When the amulet blew a hole in Sunnydale, it didn't so much as close the hellmouth as only partially seal it. Now, the slayers and their allies are in a desperate war against the evils that constantly try to escape. F/F Temporary hiatus
1. PrologueIntroduction

"Buffy, we came as fast as we could!" The collective Slayers, and slayerettes, looked up and over at the man sliding down the rope from the hellicopter dropping him off. Several others were lading not too far away, kicking up dust and creating a mess. The army... specifically, the no-longer-existing Initiative. Riley and his wife ran over to help support Buffy and the injured from the battle. "What was the explosion?"

"No big. Just closin' the hellmouth." She smiled up at him, as his wife, a little dizzy from the bloodloss. That stab-wound was taking a lot out of her, even with Slayer healing.

"Um... Buffy..." Willow's worried voice rang out, and she and the soldiers looked over at the giant crater. In its depths, at the very center, a large black hole resided, from which there looked to be... things... crawling out.

"Fuck! It didn't work!" Faith signalled the Slayers still able to fight forward. Riley was surprised at her presence, but to his credit, only yelled back the order for his troops to give them support.

"Or... we didn't..." Buffy groaned, struggling to stand and push him away. He let her, barely, but now wasn't the time for weakness. She grabbed a sword from their supplies, and joined the clumsy advance down into the crater's belly.

_**TBC**_ _throws in the BtVS theme music_

**  
Welcome all, to yet another BtVS fanfic. "In Love and War..." starts EXACTLY post-Chosen. Minor differences being that Anya didn't die, Wood did, and they'd attempted to call the army in for reinforcements. Cause hey, Riley's still hunting demons with his hottie wife, there've gotta be others that can help in his troops, right?  
Well, they got there a little late, but at least these folks were able to help them turn the tide of the first advance from the hellmouth.  
The first official chapter is on its way, set a bit in the future, so stay tuned. As well, this is F/F, big surprise (that's pretty much all I write). So if you don't like that, and were fool enough to not only ignore the warning inits summary, click on it, and start reading, you might as well back out now before you get offended.  
Also, for those of you readers going: But Joss has those season 8 comics out now!  
Well, hey, it's AU. I said it's AU. So get over it, hey?**


	2. Chapter 1

She looked silently, grimly, at the map. As usual, it didn't look good. In fact, as per usual, it looked bad. She wasn't the greatest of strategists. In fact, as ever, she was more of an action girl, instead of seeing patterns and plans. That she usually left up to the brains of the group. Nevertheless, in the two years they'd been fighting this, she'd picked up a few things. And from that, she really didn't like what she saw.

The war shouldn't have taken this long. It should have ended before it had even begun. If only the damned amulet had done what it was supposed to have done. Growling, she looked over the sickly red mist that blotted out the center of the map. The demons had taken another mile's worth of land, luckily only in diameter this time. When they managed to take in radius, that was when she really started worrying. That was when she knew that the seal-spells were weakening. Buffy reached up and rubbed slightly at her neck, frowning at the map. They'd been at this war for too long. _She'd_ been at this war for too long. The only consolation was that, somehow, having lasted this long also meant that the demons hadn't been able to push completely up and out.

"Commander Summers?" Buffy looked up sharply, eyes narrowed on the younger girl, one of the junior Slayers, that stood there with a sheave of papers in her hands. She'd forgotten the girl was there. What was her name again? Lyra? No. Lyla? No… Lydia? Yes, that was it. Lydia. Lydia Norris. The papers were the most recent counts.

"It's alright, Slayer Lydia. Just go ahead and leave them on that refreshment table. Report back to your unit." Her voice sounded gruff and strained, even to her ears. Did it always sound like that now?

"If you don't mind my saying so, ma'am?" Lydia had set the papers down, but was looking at her with a Slayer's bravery. Impressive, since she'd heard rumors that, in a mood, she supposedly scared the Junior Slayers more than the demons did. She supposed that came with being the longest reigning Slayer in their ranks, and one of the commanders. "You need some rest. You look like hell, ma'am, and should try to get some sleep. Commander Le'hane said that Generals Finn and Harris weren't to return until eleven-hundred tomorrow. The meeting shan't happen before their return, you say… and as you've told many of us, a fresher mind and body is best, be it for strategy, enduring worry, or fighting. A warrior takes her rest when and where she can."

"I have said that, haven't I?" Buffy smiled wryly, shaking her head and turning her attention from the map again. Perhaps it, and the lists could wait. Faith did prefer to go over the lists of the lost Slayers with her anyway, and "Commander Le'hane" was busy with… something right now, she couldn't remember what. "What position do you hold, Slayer?"

"You agreed to Commander Le'hane bumping me to Specialist Squad leader, Commander Summers, just last week." Lydia stood straighter, at the attention stance that Slayers took. It was different than the human soldiers. They were army. They were nation. Slayers… Slayers had been granted automatic citizenship upon proof of powers, but were considered outside of any country. They were their own, at least according to the US government now. Norris was holding her fist to her solar plexus, feet shoulder width apart, with her left hand down at her hip. It was a stance that Buffy recognized, as Xander had come up with it, almost jokingly, at the start of this thing.

"We made a good choice." Buffy told her, hiding a smile as the girl looked startled, but didn't relax her stance. "The whereabouts of Faith?"

"Commander Le'hane is taking a walkabout of the scout and Slayer camps." Lydia offered, moving to at-rest again when signaled. It wasn't an army at-ease either, as with most things Slayer in this war. Though she deferred to Buffy, and even seemed to posture as if she knew who the dominant and leader was there, she was much more casual, and behaved as she would have as a pure civilian otherwise.

"Ah. Well, much as I may need the rest, I suppose that I'll catch up to her. There were things to discuss." Buffy, touched the rounded gemstone at the edge of the map table, which set up a half-visible dome around the map itself, magical and physical protection so that no one could tamper with it. No one had tried so far, but they couldn't take the risk. As she passed Lydia, taking up the papers to fold them and stuff them into the waistband of the back of her pants on the way out, she nodded. "Faith hates it when you lot call her Commander Le'hane by the way. Especially since it's a surname that was made up for her."

"It's a hard habit to break, Ma'am." Lydia smiled charmingly, then preceded her down the halls, opening doors for her even though she was obviously capable of doing it herself. "But then again, I was an army brat before I was Called."

"And likely called your father and mother sir and ma'am." Buffy nodded, and did give a small, tired smile this time. "I'll remember to call you up next time I feel like annoying her. Carry on, Slayer."

Lydia looked like she wasn't sure if she should take that as a joke, or be worried, but nevertheless, she moved on at a quicker pace to either finish her duties or return to her squad. Buffy shook her head and smiled. It had been forever since she'd done a walkabout in the camps. Did Faith really do this all the time? No wonder the troops and Slayers loved her.

_**TBC**_


	3. Chapter 2

The camps were brightly lit with campfires and lamps, and more than one squad was gathered outside of their barracks and tents, eating and talking over their respite from fighting. Buffy and the crew tried to keep them on a decent rotation so that the girls all had a chance for rest from the front lines. They certainly had enough Slayers coming in now to handle that. It seemed that the Bringers hadn't gotten nearly as many girls as they thought. There were several new Slayers a week finding their way here, from the instinct driving them to join the war or dreams egging them on, or even Wes and Oz recruiting the ones that were found via magic. Those were the ones she regretted bringing on most, because they weren't volunteers. Several of the junior Slayers looked up as she passed, and she nodded to the ones that did more than glance. So many unfamiliar faces now.

As she wandered, Buffy was pleased to find that there wasn't an aura of depression and weariness hanging over the camp. The girls, despite a bit of a subdued nature to them, didn't seem to be put off by the fact that the war was still raging. They were still confident and optimistic, they way that Slayers should be. That was refreshing. Probably had something to do with the fact that Faith kept insisting on keeping some form of entertainment around for them during camp-hours. Projectors and electrical equipment usually provided for that, and she'd heard rumor of a few girls having gotten some balls for random dodge-ball games and the like. Though, honestly, she couldn't remember the last time that they'd grabbed a few units of the military guys and thrown a bash. Had that really been as far back as the end of the first year of the war?

Music blared ahead of her at a bonfire, a collection of a few squads, and even one or to US military guys, throwing an impromptu party over there. The familiar head of brown hair, and lithe form of her fellow Commanding Slayer, Faith, was sitting at one of the make-shift seats, eating some of the camp rations and chatting with a familiar junior Slayer. She thought she remembered it being one of the squad captains, like Lydia was, but it was another that she couldn't put a name to directly. When Faith turned and looked at her, she smiled. Even with so many other Slayers around, they could still usually pick out each other's distinctive presence.

"Hey B." That one phrase seemed to stop two of the dancing Slayers in their tracks, making the goofy soldier with them run into their backs, and fall flat on his rump for doing so. The slayers there stared at her, as if it was more than shocking to see her in the camp among them, and she got an uncomfortable feeling crawling under her skin. "Thought you'd be brooding in the war room all night, waitin' for the boys ta get back."

"Lydia made me see the sense in taking a break. Seems everyone knows I'm not the brains behind the operation." She smiled wryly and moved forward a bit more, noting the stilled watchers going back to their funmaking, slowly.

"Or that ya look dead on yer feet and _can't_ be the brains till ya get some sleep, Twinkie." Faith chuckled, then gestured the chair next to her. "What's up?"

"It's been a while since I did a walkabout, like you always do. I thought it was about time." Buffy smiled more genuinely this time, though it was a little bashful, and she took the seat, glad for the rest. The girls kept stealing glances at her, and it made her a little uncomfortable, as she couldn't quite figure out why. The rest of the camp hadn't seemed so fixated. Then she realized, other than the captain, these girls were all mostly fresh Slayers, new to the war, and each a volunteered recruit. "Who're your friends?"

"Jenna here had all her girls siphoned off to work Tagging with the troops, and she's seasoning some of the newbies for us. Came by to see how she was, and the girls all looked bored shitless… so I ordered 'em to get some music and have some fun." Faith smirked almost evilly, making Buffy laugh. "They didn't realize I was serious until Jenna actually ran for some booze."

"You don't fuck the orders from Le'hane." Jenna replied casually, winking at one of the girls that was staring again. It made Faith grumble, but she didn't object to the name like usual. "Learned that in her squad. Can I get you anything, Commander Summers?"

"Buffy would do fine, and I wouldn't object to a beer, if you can find one." She said, a little surprised. No wonder the girl looked familiar. She'd been one of the girls with Faith's squad eight months ago, before it was split to make a few more squad captains for the increasing Slayer numbers. The girl began to order something at another of the younger Slayers, only to have a blushing girl of around seventeen run up, nearly stumbling over her own feet, with a bottle of beer. "Thanks."

"A… a… anything…" It was breathless, and made Buffy choke on the first sip she'd taken, and Faith laugh.

"Nancy, why don't ya go have a romp around the fire with those other two, eh? You're makin' B blush." Faith was still laughing as she patted Buffy soundly on the back. It seemed to embarrass the young Slayer just enough to where she quickly moved to follow the suggestion, instead of staring more. "The newbies just aren't used to ya being around all that much, B. Don't take Nan too seriously, she's got a bit of a big-ol-romatic mouth. Asked if she could keep me when we first met… before she turned bright red and squeaked, near faint for realizin' she just said that."

"Just a bit of a surprise, that's all." Buffy said, smiling a little and wiping her mouth. Then she raised her eyebrows, relaxing for the first time in who knew how long. "To keep you?"

"Yeah. Told her that Jenna might object to that, but they could fight it out for me." Buffy laughed outright at that, along with Jenna's embarrassed grumbling.

"Cocky brat. Not into girls… just cause I told you you were sexy… damned cocky Commanders…" Buffy kept laughing louder from overhearing that, making Faith chuckle. God it had been too long since she'd laughed. "You nearly gave Nancy a heart attack when you said that, ma'am."

"And I told you _not_ to call me, ma'am, brat." Faith sniped back, rolling her eyes and nudging Buffy. "So ya gonna take a toss with Nancy? Girl's gotta have something to brag about to her fellow Slayers."

"I don't think so Faith." It was the expected answer, and she waited for Faith to start taking a sip of her own drink before continuing. "She's far to young for me. I prefer my women full grown and experienced." At her friend's hacking coughs and sputtering, she chuckled again. She really should get out to do this more often.

_**TBC**_


End file.
